Mommy Adventures + IMHO: Rewards

I do not remember when fast food really started to disgust me. Captain Awesome and Little HRH are probably two of the very few kids who do not have a collection of Happy Meal or other kiddie meal toys. When we take them out, we eat at real restaurants. But there is no need to play tiny violins for them. They pretty much get their fill of their favorite burgers, corn dogs and pizzas from the kiddie menu. I am the first to admit that I am not one of those obsessed on healthy/organic foods, but I try to set an example to my kids on good eating habits.

Back in California, though, we used to satisfy our fast food cravings with In-N-Out or Jollibee - “healthy” or the much missed Pinoy flavor. Still, trips to these fast food joints were very limited, as it has always been even before we moved to the US.

Photo Source: MuchMoreThanMommy.WordPress.com

Today, we had lunch at Wendy’s because Little HRH had a free kiddie meal voucher from her teacher for exceeding the reading goals for her age/grade level. She is so proud of this accomplishment and so are we. She was so happy to have been awarded for her hard work. As parents, Um and I, of course, want her to enjoy her moment. But, honestly, we were kind of disappointed that kids are rewarded by their teachers with fast food vouchers. And there I was thinking that homework passes were the worst way to recognize a child’s achievement, which, by the way, seem to be a common thing in schools here in the US.

How visible (or, in the case of the homework passes, invisible) should these rewards have to be in order to be considered real? Whatever happened to gold stars? Those yellow star-shaped pieces of paper with your name plastered in your classroom wall – do they not give children the I-did-great feeling anymore?